Stern Supports 2012-13 State Budget
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Jerry Stern (R-Blair) today released the following statement on his support of the 2012-13 state budget, which spends $27.7 billion, a 1.45 percent increase over the current fiscal year:
“I heard from many residents over the past several months who were concerned about the governor’s proposed cuts to both basic education and higher education,” said Stern. “Education is an important element to the future success of our state and House Republicans fought hard to make sure our state-owned educational institutions did not incur any funding reductions. Fortunately, state revenues have slowly been improving and we were able to restore level funding for higher education, along with INCREASED funding to basic education through the Accountability Block Grant program.
“In addition to education, we were also able to restore funding for hospitals throughout the state. Under the 2012-13 state budget, critical care hospitals, trauma centers, burn centers and OB/neonatal hospitals will all receive the same level of funding they did under the 2011-12 state budget. This will allow our local hospitals, such as Tyrone, Nason and Altoona Regional hospitals, the resources to continue to provide quality health care to the citizens of our region.
“As chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee, I am also pleased to see an additional $2 million earmarked for tourism marketing. Tourism is our No. 2 industry, supporting more than 452,000 jobs and generating $36 billion in economic impact each year. If we invest in further growing this industry, the employment opportunities and revenue we generate from it will only multiply. This is a smart move that will help our business community, local governments and job seekers.
“And speaking of job seekers, as a long-time advocate of the New Choices/New Options program, which helps single mothers obtain education and job skills, I was pleased to see the program restored under the final budget agreement.”
For more information on the 2012-13 state budget, visit
www.JerryStern.com.
The school funding totals and increases for school districts in the 80th Legislative District are as follows:
• Bellwood-Antis School District – $7,966,963, an increase of $223,276.
• Claysburg-Kimmel School District – $6,036,451, an increase of $130,744.
• Hollidaysburg Area School District – $14,418,290, an increase of $554,617.
• Spring Cove School District – $9,200,796, an increase of $282,274.
• Tyrone Area School District – $10,783,213, an increase of $282,336.
• Williamsburg Community School District – $3,965,474, an increase of $111,003.
Note: Subsidies in these totals include basic education funding, Accountability Block Grants, transportation, school employees’ Social Security, and school employee retirement appropriations.
State Representative Jerry Stern
80th District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
tlehman@pahousegop.com
717.772.9840